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Bleary-eyed and tired from not sleeping well in a cold tent, my bones felt each and every unpadded bump on that rough road in middle-of-nowhere Paraguay. At the time, I was a Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, providing force protection (a.k.a. counterterrorism and anti-crime) support to U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) New Horizons humanitarian exercise. At that moment, I was riding in a loud and uncomfortable Humvee to the site of the medical readiness training portion of the exercise, or MEDRETE.

I stepped out of the Humvee to take in my surroundings. We were outside the tiny Paraguayan town of Concepción in a very rural area under overcast skies. The first thing that struck me was all the people—the hundreds of indigenous Paraguayans waiting in long lines to get help from the U.S. military.

This may not sound like a big deal, but in a region where the U.S. military’s presence is viewed by many as a very bad thing, it was amazing to see all these people—in some cases traveling long distances on foot—coming to this MEDRETE to receive free medical care. I spoke with some of the doctors to ask about the procedures they were performing. The most common were dental procedures, especially on children. They don’t have candy here, so children chew on sugar cane, which is really bad for their teeth. The military doctors also provided vaccinations, basic check-ups and medications, and even delivered two babies.

I tried to speak with some of the people waiting in line, but it was tough. I speak fluent Spanish, and I guess most people assume that everyone in Latin America (except maybe Brazilians) speak Spanish. However, in some countries, indigenous groups who speak a native Indian language make up the majority of the population. In this case, the local language was Guaraní, with which I was wholly unfamiliar. Despite the language barrier, I got one message loud and clear—the locals were suspicious of us and our intentions.

They may have started out that way, before they met any one of the dozens of doctors, nurses, and civil engineering troops who make up the bulk of the deployment force. On the way out of the clinic, both children and adults were all smiles. I translated a few times for U.S. and Paraguayan military officials, and it was obvious that camaraderie had been established. I’d like to think that it was a learning experience for both the deployment force and the locals receiving military assistance.

So why is it that more Americans don’t know about New Horizons, MEDRETEs, and other SOUTHCOM humanitarian exercises and the positive effects they’re having on some of Latin America’s remotest regions?

First, it’s important to understand what these exercises consist of, and what they’re meant to accomplish.

New Horizons is an annual series of joint and combined humanitarian assistance exercises that SOUTHCOM conducts in Latin American and Caribbean nations. Typically, New Horizons exercises last several months, providing much needed services and infrastructure, while giving deployed U.S. military forces invaluable training. These exercises generally take place in rural, underprivileged areas. The projects create a unique opportunity for the U.S. and partnering nations to work side-by-side to refine the skills of their militaries’ engineers, medical personnel, and support staff through quality of life projects.

Since New Horizons began in the mid-1980s, U.S. troops have deployed annually for the exercise to construct schools, clinics, and water wells. At the same time, MEDRETEs involving teams consisting of military doctors, nurses and dentists, provide general and specialized health services to host nation citizens requiring care. In Fiscal Year 2008, troops conducted 65 MEDRETEs in 17 countries, treating more than 200,000 people, performing 2,063 surgeries and treating 46,000 animals. The humanitarian assistance mission Continuing Promise, supported by the hospital ship USNS Comfort, treated an additional 100,000 patients in seven countries in 2009.

And New Horizons isn’t the only form that U.S. military humanitarian assistance takes.

SOUTHCOM is also involved in Beyond the Horizon exercises, which provide persistent U.S. regional support through assessment, construction, and sustainment activities over a three-year period. The command sponsors disaster preparedness exercises, seminars, and conferences to improve the collective ability of the U.S. and its partner nations to respond effectively and expeditiously to disasters. SOUTHCOM has also supported the construction or improvement of Emergency Operations Centers and Disaster Relief Warehouses, has provided pre-positioned relief supplies across the region.

One might assume that all this U.S. military activity in Latin America might draw a lot of attention from the media, but that hasn’t been the case at all. Mr. William Knightly, Assistant Deputy Director for Training and Joint Exercises, offered the following possible explanation:

I asked Mr. Knightly if the reactions by the locals had changed much in the nine years since I participated in New Horizons.

Unfortunately, recent changes in agreements between the U.S. and Colombian governments regarding the presence of American troops on Colombian bases has caused a huge negative reaction from leaders in the region. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has gone as far as to say the increased U.S troop presence signals a threat of invasion.

What has been widely misunderstood (or ignored) is the fact that the cap on the number of military and civilian personnel in Colombia has not changed with the new agreement. They will also be guests on existing Colombian military bases. There will be no establishment of new American bases in Colombia, a falsehood which many Latin American leaders and several media outlets have propagated.

With all the controversy over the U.S.-Colombia deal, I asked Mr. Knightly how he thought that might affect the perception of U.S. troops participating in exercises in the region after the brouhaha started.

Fortunately, even politics can’t interfere with the massive amounts of goodwill being generated by these exercises. People in the host country certainly aren’t the only ones benefiting from the hard work of U.S. troops, according to Mr. Knightly.

Mr. Knightly added that the work done in these countries doesn’t always end when the troops leave.

Those memories have certainly stayed with me after nine years. On my last day, I knew when I got into the CH-47 Chinook helicopter that would take me back to Asunción that I would likely never come this way again. But I couldn’t wait to tell my family, friends, and coworkers what I had seen, and the positive difference our troops are making in Latin America, one person at a time.

It makes me sad that more people don’t know about the hard work our troops are doing in such austere environments—in our own hemisphere—to help people they’ll probably never see again. Instead, we hear plenty about roadside bombs and firefights, civilian casualties and short supplies of body armor, all happening a world away.

Historically and regionally speaking, we hear a lot of rhetoric from anti-U.S. leaders about our constant interference in Latin American affairs, the “threat” we pose by our presence in Colombia, and how all our intentions are bad. The basic premise of SOUTHCOM humanitarian assistance in Latin America contradicts all of this rhetoric, but is rarely pointed to as a positive example of our involvement in Latin America.

Latin America is becoming more of a force to reckon with, as Brazil is rising as a regional power, Chávez is sounding the anti-U.S. call more loudly, and constitutions are being re-written to keep leaders—some good, some not so good—in power longer.

As the U.S. gets inevitably drawn into the fray, I hope that our leadership remembers the work our troops are doing in the region to help those less fortunate, and to make us look like the strong and generous nation that we are.

For more information on U.S. Southern Command’s humanitarian missions, CLICK HERE.

Sylvia Longmire is a [medically] retired Air Force captain and former Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. During her eight years with AFOSI, Sylvia conducted numerous criminal investigations and worked extensively in the fields of counterintelligence, counterespionage, and force protection. She is currently an independent consultant and freelance writer, and contributes regularly to Examiner.com and MexiData.info. Petroleumworld not necessarily share these views.

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